ADAPT-IT NEWS

Enabling people with special needs and disabilities to access IT

Issue 4 – November 2004

 

Welcome to Issue 4. We will be featuring the problem of one-handedness and why it need not be an insurmountable problem for anyone in the modern workplace whether their loss of function is temporary or permanent.

We would appreciate any feedback about layout etc., or suggestions for future articles.  To contact the editor or if you wish one of your colleagues to receive this newsletter, please send an email to news@adapt-it.org.uk

 

Large Print Version

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CONTENTS

1. You can do it single handed!

2. Adapt-IT - new products and special offers

3. Tips

4. Administrivia

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1. YOU CAN DO IT SINGLE HANDED !

If you or a colleague have lost the use of one hand, either temporarily or permanently, due for example, to an accident, a birth defect or a stroke or merely as a result of carpal-tunnel syndrome, and you are wondering how to manage - whether you work from home or in an office, there are many ways to type efficiently even with only one hand. Indeed, many people have become so proficient that they can achieve typing speeds of between 40 - 80 wpm.

There are several alternative systems that have been developed for use with one hand – there are special keyboards that cater for one handed use or keyboards that rely on finger combinations that can be performed with one hand. You will also have to give careful consideration to the mouse used so as not to tire the good hand or you might like to consider using a voice recognition program in conjunction with whichever keyboard you use.

When considering which option is best for you, you should consider these questions first:

·         Is your disability temporary or permanent?
·         Is typing speed an issue?  If you typed quickly before your disability, (you might even have been a speed touch typist), do you want to achieve similar sorts of typing speeds?  If so, which system will allow you to type the fastest once you have become accomplished?
·         How long will it take you to learn?

Do you work on your own or will you need to use other people's computers or they yours?

·         So the message is that you can still work with your computer - even single handedly !

 

A] SPECIALISED ONE HANDED KEYBOARDS

As we indicated above, there are various systems that have been developed to meet the needs of one-handed typing.

1. Half-QWERTY Keyboard

This is a keyboard designed to facilitate the transfer of two-handed typing skills to the one-handed condition.  It is performed on a standard-sized keyboard (with modified software) that can be used with either left hand, right hand or both hands. It lets you type all the letters and numbers on a computer keyboard with one hand but because of its ambidextrous nature, it is ideal in a multi-user environment such as Access Centres, Libraries etc.

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Basically, you place your hand where it would normally reside if you were a two-handed typist; that takes care of half the keyboard. To type the keys on the other side, you hold the spacebar and press the mirror-image key.

Experiments have shown that it is possible for the Half-QWERTY technique to be used by people who could touch type using QWERTY to achieve high one-handed typing rates (40+ wpm) in a relatively short period of time (<10 hr). Half-QWERTY is also important in providing access to disabled users, and for the design of compact computers.
See http://www.adapt-it.org.uk/products/halfqwertykeyboard.asp

 

2. Half Keyboard

This keyboard is one side of the keyboard (currently only available for left handed typing) but which mirrors the right handed keys on top of the existing left handed keys e.g. the “q” key will also double up as a “P”.

 

3. MALTRON Keyboards

The Maltron Keyboard is designed to take extra care of the user’s good hand.  These are ergonomically designed keyboards that have a specialised key layout depending on which hand they are for. Both Right hand and a Left hand versions are available and have been designed for "Touch Typing".   Because the layout is different from a conventional keyboard, the Maltron keyboard training scheme, either in the form of a booklet or on disk is strongly recommended.

Word-processing input speeds of 85 words per minute have been demonstrated by operators using these keyboards.

 


See http://www.adapt-it.org.uk/products/maltronsinglehandedkeyboardrighthanded.asp

 

4. CyKey Keyboard

This is a specialised keypad that contains only nine blank pads. By using the pads in different combinations (‘chording’), every letter or symbol on a standard keyboard can be replicated.  It can be used by either hand and connects to a PC by means of an adaptor plugged in to the USB socket.

The makers claim that most people can touch type in less than 1 hour but many in 30minutes.
See http://www.adapt-it.org.uk/products/cykeypocketsizedwirelesschordingkeyboard.asp

5. FrogPad Keyboard

This has a total of 19 keys – 15 regular sized and 4 outer keys.  It is similar to ‘CyKey’ in the way that most keystrokes involve using two fingers in key combinations.  Unlike CyKey, there is a mirror-image version for lefthanders. It is very small but the keys are the same size as those found on a standard size keyboard.

The designers claim that you can touch type within the hour.
See http://www.adapt-it.org.uk/products/thefrogpadlefthanded.asp

6. ‘Five Fingered Typist’ Tutorial

Five Finger Typist is not a keyboard but a typing tutor for teaching an accepted keyboarding technique for single-handed touch typing on a standard (QWERTY) keyboard using either the right or left hand.


See http://www.adapt-it.org.uk/search_results.asp?cat=product_title&field=anywords&search=five+finger+typist

 

B] VOICE RECOGNITION SOFTWARE
There are several Voice Recognition packages. These allow you to use voice as your main inputting source.   Although most effective when used in conjunction with a keyboard, it is possible with some of the better products such as Dragon Naturally Speaking Preferred to completely voice-enable your keyboard.

Voice Recognition Software has improved greatly in recent years and can be a very useful tool for many one-handed typists.
See http://www.adapt-it.org.uk/products/dragonnaturallyspeakingpreferredv7.asp

C] MICE

People who only have the use of one hand, should also carefully consider the type of computer mouse they use in order to minimise the strain on the good hand.  Mice come in many different shapes and sizes, both wired and wireless, and ergonomically designed models are now available for left or right handed users.  Moreover there are also associated ‘dwell-click’ software programs available that reduce or even eliminate the need to click on any mouse buttons.

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2. ADAPT-IT PRODUCTS AND SPECIAL OFFERS

 

 

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3. TIPS – REDUCING THE KEYSTROKES WITH ‘STICKY KEYS’

(For Windows XP Users)

When you have the use of one hand only, it is often extremely difficult, or even impossible, for some people to hold down certain key combinations such as ‘Ctrl-Alt-Del’, (to bring up the Windows Task Manager), ‘Ctrl-Shift-E’ in Outlook Express, (to bring up the ‘Create Folder’ dialogue box), or when a shortcut requires a modifier key, such as Shift, Ctrl, Alt, or the Windows Logo key plus another, for example ‘shift + t’.  Even typing a capital letter can often be a challenge.

If that is the case, here is what you should do:

1. From the Start button go to Control Panel, click on  Accessibility Options. In the box that appears, choose the Keyboard tab and tick the box marked Use StickyKeys.
(For Windows 98/95 users the keystrokes will be Start, Settings, Control Panel, Accessibility Options, Keyboard, Use StickyKeys)

2. Then click on the Settings box.
These are further options. We recommend that you select the first two and last two but not the third because selecting this option as well would mean that anyone else using your computer could intuitively cancel the StickyKeys option m rely by using any shortcut key combination i.e. any two keys together.

3. Click OK for Settings and then OK again.
An icon (a group of four boxes) appears in the Status Bar area in the bottom right hand corner of your screen.  This is purely to tell you that StickyKeys is activated – neither a left or right click actually does anything.)

The effect of this can be seen if you type the word ‘the’ as it would appear at the start of a sentence, i.e. ‘The’. Normally, you would hold down the shift key and hit the ‘t’ – the result would be a capital ‘T’.  With StickyKeys activated, however, hitting the Shift once (without holding it down), followed by the letter ‘t’ key. This gives ‘T’.

Another example is Ctrl-Alt-Del.  Using StickyKeys this becomes easy.  Just hit Shift then Ctrl, then hit Shift again followed by Alt, and finally, hit Shift again followed by Del.

 

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5. ADMINISTRIVIA

To contact us: info@adapt-it.org.uk

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Adapt-IT
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Tel: 0845 644 1712 Fax: 020 8959 0844